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Buffalo Bills fail to win AFC East, USA Today predicts NFL records

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Buffalo Bills fail to win AFC East, USA Today predicts NFL records

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Is the Buffalo Bills’ reign as divisional champions coming to an end?

USA Today predicted the winners of all 272 regular-season and playoff games, and predicted the AFC East would reach Super Bowl 59. It wasn’t the Bills.

NFL reporter Nate Davis placed the New York Jets in the division with a 12-7 record and went on to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. He attributed their success to Aaron Rodgers’ reported health after returning from a torn Achilles tendon, and that “the roster—on paper—looks as good as any in the league.”

Buffalo finished 10-7 in the projections, securing the fifth spot as the top wild-card team. But the Bills were eliminated in the playoff round by the Cincinnati Bengals. Buffalo’s decline was due to a depleted roster due to salary cap losses and a tough schedule, according to USA Today.

Davis led the Jets to the playoffs with conference playoff victories over the top-seeded Cleveland Browns, Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs before defeating Rodgers’ former Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl.

For what it’s worth: Davis also picked the Jets in 2023 to win the AFC East and reach the Super Bowl. Rodgers played four snaps and the Jets finished 7-10.

Here’s USA Today’s rundown of the bills:

They won seven of their last nine games last season, both by three points (including a heartbreaking home playoff series against the Chiefs), after installing Joe Brady as offensive coordinator. While WR Stefon Diggs wasn’t a major part of that season’s stellar finish, Buffalo will have to move on without him, WR2 Gabe Davis and a number of key former players the team simply couldn’t afford to keep. And the Bills better adjust to their new reality by midseason because, between Weeks 9 and 15, they’ll only face one team that didn’t make the playoffs in 2023 — and that apparent reprieve is a trip to Indy in Week 11. Maintaining their divisional prominence might be asking too much of QB Josh Allen and his teammates in the midst of that adjustment period.

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